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Friday, August 23, 2013

Cases of Extreme Customer Service

Every company says they provide the best customer service, unfortunately in some cases it’s only written but never applied. Abundant examples can be found online of bad experiences from unsatisfied customers and how companies failed to keep theme as a happy customer.

However, positive stories can also be found. Those that show how customers are not only satisfied with their purchase, but also deeply grateful with someone else for going above and beyond to solve something.

Here are some examples:

Airbnb: After some stories reached the news about guests trashing some of the host properties, the company decided to hire 50 agents to revert this situation and make sure the good stories also reached the media. Sometimes simple details can make a difference.

After Adam Jackson discovered that one of his guests had stolen a pizza cutter from his kitchen, he tweeted about it and Airbnb overnighted a new one to him with a nice apology note.

Zappos: A company that is widely recognized for their excellent customer service. Plenty of stories can be found online, because they live up to their slogan “delivering happiness”. They have no time limit for their calls; their longest one lasted 10 hours!

One night, Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh took some of his client out for a night in town, once they got back to the hotel one of his clients was hungry and wanted some pizza, but it was 2AM and the hotel kitchen was closed. Tony suggested her to call Zappos customer service and ask where she could find pizza. Not only did they suggest three pizza stores nearby, but they also ordered it for her.

Taco Bell: The people in Bethel, Alaska were pranked to believe a Taco Bell would be opened in their city accessible only by air and river. Their disappointment was shared with the company when they found out the news was not true. Once Taco Bell heard about this through their social media channels, they decided to cheer up their Bethel Taco fans, airlifting a truck with 10,000 free tacos.

Lego: Luka, a 7 year old boy sent a letter to Lego explaining how sad he was because he had lost one of his figures, and he asked if he could be sent a new one. The response from Richard, a customer service manager, was not only very creative, but also included a gift card.

Credit: http://twitter.com/lukaapps

“Luka, I told Sensei Wu that losing your Jay minifigure was purely an accident and that you would never ever ever let it happen ever again.

He told me to tell you, "Luka, your father seems like a very wise man. You must always protect your Ninjago minifigures like the dragons protect the Weapons of Spinjitzu!"

Sensei Wu also told me it was okay if I sent you a new Jay and told me it would be okay if I included something extra for you because anyone that saves their Christmas money to buy the Ultrasonic Raider must be a really big Ninjago fan.”

And these are only 4 stories from
hundreds out there. Start thinking how your company can give a smile through
extreme customer service and win customers for life.

We’d love to hear from you, share your stories of positive customer service experience with us in the comment section.